Genius Blogs and Get's 100's of Volunteers, Lawyers & Web Designers in 5 Days!

I've written before that I look up to Mish Shedlock as an inspiration as to how to write and run a no-frills but incredibly interesting blog. I sincerely think that anyone who is interested in blogging needs to check out his site. I think, Mish's Global Economic Analysis is one of the best 3 sites on the Internet! 


(Updates below) 

Currently, Mish is running a campaign, looking for volunteers, and he's gotten 100's of them in only a few days! That's astounding! 


Mish has been writing and blogging for years and he often updates his blog 3 times a day!  (I've done that, as a test, for 3 months straight in 2010 and let me tell you that that is a tough job!)


Mish does it consistently everyday and has been doing it for years. It is this kind of dedication that has built him a massive following. I bet he doesn't realize it, but he is an Internet marketing genius.


In a recent blog, Mish asked for volunteers to help him recall the governor of Illinois! No joke. Talk about taking on an almost impossible task! 


Yeah, well, maybe almost impossible, but if anyone could pull this off, it is Mish Shedlock.  


Mish is so dedicated and so well respected that when blogged about this campaign and asked for volunteers in only 5 short days he has gotten hundreds of volunteers. He has even gotten lawyers to volunteer!!! Now, that is amazing! I thought lawyers were cold-blooded sharks who only cared about cash in hand!




Last Sunday Mish wrote: 


I have exciting news this morning. I am launching a campaign to recall Illinois governor Pat Quinn.

This is not a frivolous effort. It is a serious undertaking and one in which I intend to see to the end. It will take hard work and lots of volunteers but we will be successful.

I need volunteers to ...

• Gather signatures
• Talk to state legislative representatives to get them on board
• Provide legal help
• Design a website
• Help with advertising

I will pay for website hosting and domain names.

We need to be successful because Governor Quinn has plans that will destroy Illinois.
Will You Stand Up To The Injustice?


There are many tasks to be performed and I will need volunteers from every county to gather signatures. I estimate we need about 520,000 signatures. My goal is to get 700,000.

If you can volunteer, time, web design, advertising, legal help, or any kind of general assistance, I would appreciate it.


The campaign seems to me to be doing fabulously. Today Mish added:


I wrote the above call to action post on Sunday. Since then I have had over 100 volunteers including 10 web designers, a lawyer, and numerous business owners. Work on a website is underway. I have secured the appropriate domain names. One business owner who employs about 100 people graciously volunteered services of his legal department.


Like I said, Mish is an expert at this. Not only is he an economic genius, he is a wizard at using the new media to get his message out. The proof is in the pudding. 


Of course, any good blogger needs good topics and Mish finds them all the time. This current campaign to recall the governor of Illinois is Mish's idea, but the absurd actions of the governor himself give a fertile mind like Mish's ton's of great ideas.


Get this: The governor of Illinois wants to raise personal income taxes 67%!


In Mish's own words; Tax insanity in Illinois is now official. Governor Pat Quinn signed off on a 67% hike in personal income taxes and a 46% hike in corporate taxes the moment the bill hit his desk.


Now Mish is working to recall the governor! 

Unnamed Illinois businessman's reaction to Gov. Pat Quinn's 

plan to raise personal income taxes by 67% 

and corporate taxes by 46%

I know this is serious business but I couldn't help laughing at the extreme stupidity of the governor of Illinois. If you are from Illinois, or live there currently, you won't find this funny at all... If you are in another state or country and watching this insanity from afar, then this is spectacularly hilarious! 


Mr. Governor, all I can say is that when the Japanese are laughing at you (unless you are a Hollywood stand-up comedian) then you have problems... Usually jokes don't translate well into other languages, but you are a joke that will be understood the world over! 


Read Mish's take on this tax hike here.


Thank God there's people like Mish running around! Go get 'em Mish. See more on Mish's campaign here! Volunteer if you can!


Update 1: I wrote this blog 12 hours ago. In the meantime, Mish has now gotten over 200 volunteers! 


Update 2: This message was sent to me by Mish himself:

Eddie & JoBo Show - WLS 890 - 8:05 PM Saturday - I 'm on Discussing Governor Quinn Recall

Mike,

I received an email moments ago from Eddie Volkman at WLS AM 890 Chicago asking me to be on for a live 18-20 minute segment tonight. The discussion will be on Governor Quinn, the tax hikes, how those tax hikes will impact the state of Illinois, and what we can do about it.

Hey Mike...

I'm Eddie Volkman from "The Eddie & JoBo Show" now on WLS-AM, 7-9pm Saturdays. Wondering if we could get you on with us to talk about your Quinn recall. The whole tax thing is obviously a huge topic right now and listeners are fuming. We'll be talking about it in the 7 o'clock hour tonight. Sorry for short notice but I came across your blog and it's quite intriguing! Thanks!

Eddie Volkman

Click here to listen live

Call in 312-591-8900
Or text "WLSAM" to 68683
or tweet to @wlsam890

Tune in, it should be fun.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://player.streamtheworld.com/_players/citadel/?sid=1044 

Japanese Politics, Yen vs. Dollar and the Price of Gold

By Mike in Tokyo Rogers


Today's Bank of Japan (BOJ) intervention into the price of the Japanese yen versus the dollar now explains why Naoto Kan was kept on as president of the DPJ and will continue as Prime Minister of Japan: It was all a back-door deal. Wheeling and dealing as usual.


"Scratch my back and I'll scratch yours."


All this time Kan was reluctant to prop up the yen and then, suddenly, he wins the vote and the next day, his so-called "principles" are out the door and the BOJ jumps into yen intervention head-first for the first time in six-years (after it was proven it didn't work the first time).  Well, at least that explains why he was kept on.


My favorite economic blog in the world, Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis, has an excellent
analysis on the idiocy of the BOJ intervening in the price of the Japanese Yen versus the US dollar.


Mish cynically writes of the Bank of Japan (BOJ) intervention:


It has been proven time and time again that currency intervention does not work. Yet, somehow it is "good for the government to show its strong stance". (Referring to foolish remarks by investment strategist Takao Hattori at Mitsubishi UFJ bank).


He also adds later in the same article:


If the Yen does drop in a sustained way, it will not be because of the intervention, but rather because the Yen had outrun fundamentals and was simply ready to drop.


Even though Japan had been complaining that a strong yen was hurting their exports, records show that Japan actually had strong exports in July 2010:


JOHN VAIL, CHIEF GLOBAL STRATEGIST, NIKKO ASSET MANAGEMENT

"Clearly the U.S. is not going to be too friendly towards it although they may not argue too much about it in that Japan is a big customer for its Treasury securities."

"I'm not sure we are going to see a major weakening of the macro statistics in Japan, but if we do that would obviously help weaken the yen, but exports were quite strong in July both on a nominal and real basis so it's a bit of a quandary for Japan."

"But the biggest problem for Japan is not the U.S. cross rates, it's the Korean won, and the Korean won has just been ridiculously weak. Yet G20 officials have yet to really pressure Korea on this at all, which I think is really to Japan's detriment."


I highly recommend reading Mish's entire blog on the subject as he is a much better expert on this than I, but I want to point out something here that is missed by most people as to what happened to the price of gold, in yen, immediately after this market intervention. And how government intervention - any government intervention - distorts the marketplace and creates problems for investors and business men alike.


Today, Sept 15, 2010, the opening price per gram of gold was ¥3426 per gram. This was before the BOJ intervention in the price of the yen versus the dollar.


This price was realized after strong gold gains in New York overnight where gold closed at $1268.70 on Sept. 14, 2010. This created the gold price of ¥3426 a gram as stated in the previous paragraph. At that time the yen was trading at ¥82.27 per dollar.


Then, at about 10:30 am Tokyo time, the BOJ intervened and the price of the yen dropped from ¥82.27 per dollar to nearly ¥85 per dollar. This caused the Nikkei 225 to soar.


It also caused the price of gold to jump too. 


In just a moment, the day's price of gold went from ¥3426 a gram to ¥3461 a gram... 


Now, most gold owners would celebrate at this information, but a closer look reveals that this is not all that great and that, even the supposed "experts" think that this intervention won't matter as market fundaments are what's driving the price of the yen.


As the NPR reported:

"The effect from Japan's solo intervention won't last very long. We have to see how the U.S. and European monetary authorities would react," said Yuji Kameoka, chief forex strategist at Daiwa Institute.

The intervention came a day after Prime Minister Naoto Kan held onto power after fending off a challenge from veteran lawmaker Ichiro Ozawa for the ruling party presidency. Ozawa had advocated currency intervention, but Kan had until now been reluctant to act.

So now, one again, things make perfect sense. Ozawa was willing to intervene in supporting the yen. Kan wasn't. Ozawa was a big money politician who had a dirty image; Kan wasn't... Ozawa played the sneaky back-door smoke-filled room deals; Kan was supposedly a "new face" and not a part of the "Good Old Boys" ....


But that's all gone now. 


Kan and his people got the votes they wanted by promising to prop up the yen... It's business as usual in Japan, folks.


The politicians in this country and even the Bank of Japan are not concerned about the well-being of the average Japanese person. They will do whatever they can to keep the Ponzi scheme going for as long as they can... The can has been kicked down the road once again....


A few months ago, Kan said he wouldn't prop up the yen because he was worried that, due to debt, Japan would become like Greece... But, here we are.


Thank God that these politicians look out for number one... Thank God they will do whatever it takes to get elected....


The Japanese people be damned.


PS: Normally I would be thrilled with a ¥81 a gram rise in the price of gold... But when it is due to price manipulation of currency... What should anyone be?


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Keywords: gold, Ponzi, Ichiro Ozawa, Kan, Mish, Marketing Japan

Debt! Who is Better Off? Japan or USA?

By Mike in Tokyo Rogers


When it comes to public debt and the coming economic turmoil, who is better off Japan, or the USA?


I received a letter from a friend who asked me this question. It read;


Just a quick question. When it comes to debt, I wonder which is really worse off. I read somewhere that Japan's debt basically comes from the Japanese public, where as the US debt is from various countries. Therefore, when analyzed who is worse off?  (Sic)


My answer: Thanks for the question. But, please do not get the debt issue confused. Japan's debt is not "from" the Japanese public. Nor is USA debt "from" various countries. The debt is Japanese or USA government created. The governments created this debt through public spending on projects, war and social welfare with money they do not have. 


Remember that the government does not have any money.  The government can only take money from business and the public by borrowing it or taxing the people (they can also print and debase the currency which is a backdoor tax on the public)... Later, someone has to pay back this debt.. In the case of Japan, the public bought the debt as investments... In the case of the USA, foreign governments have bought the debt as investments...


Regardless of the confusion as to who created this debt, I understand the basic question and think it is a great one.  Instead of me just making my remarks I decided to ask someone who I definitely look up to for advice when it comes to this kind of subject and that is my friend, Mike "Mish" Shedlock. Mish Shedlock runs one of the most-read economic blogs in the world and is a registered investment advisor representative for SitkaPacific Capital Management.


I slightly rewrote the question to Mike:


When it comes to debt, I wonder which is really worse off; the USA or Japan? Japan's debt is basically held by the Japanese public, where as the US debt is owned by China, Japan, Saudi Arabia, etc... (various countries).  Therefore, when analyzed, who are worse off? The average Japanese or the average American? 


Mike's answer: 

Japan is worse off - Their problem hits first (Japan already has debt at 190% of GDP - USA debt 87.6% as of May 15, 2010). Also Japan is much worse off because of demographics – a much older population... Timing is the key! The USA actually has some time to do something (even if we know they won’t) 

Me: To sum up; the USA is better off than Japan, for now, because Japan's debt percentage to GDP NOW is larger and because the percentage of the Japanese population that is no longer in the workforce is larger.  

Another person wrote and asked me "What should we do?" Now, that's a great question too! (realize that most people still, to this day, are not thinking about one or two years into the future when this entire situation is really going to start hitting home).

I answered:  

So, what do I recommend? Get out of debt, live within your means... Fight anyway that you can government spending and increased taxation. Get the government warfare and welfare state off our backs. Allow the free market to shake out the sick parts of our economy...

Own gold and silver and oil. Try to become self-employed or to start your own business for tax purposes.


If you want good advice on this subject... I suggest reading Mish Shedlock everyday! http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/

Keywords: Mish, public debt, USA,